Radiotelephone communication systems are prevalent and widely used today. Such systems use fixed network equipment (FNE) connected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to provide telephony services to communication units located within the systems. Some radiotelephone systems also include a short message service center (SMSC) as part of the system's FNE, thereby integrating short message service (SMS) with telephony services. In radiotelephone communication systems that have SMS integrated with telephony services, a communication unit user may receive an SMS page and then call the telephone number indicated in a displayed SMS message using the same communication unit. One known technique to allow a user to call the telephone number displayed in the SMS message is for the communication unit user to select an SMS message and to initiate a call to a telephone number contained in that message by pressing a single key on the communication unit. Responsive to the depressed key, the communication unit searches the SMS message for a digit string indicative of the telephone number and automatically initiates a call to the found telephone number. Thus, the user is freed from the inconvenience of having to dial the number manually.
In addition to SMS, radiotelephone communication systems also provide voice mail services. A user retrieving a voice mail message often will want to return a call to the caller who left the message. Today, this callback is facilitated by voice mail servers (VMSs) in a number of ways. While the user is connected to the VMS, the VMS can effectively dial a telephone number for the user. For example, the VMS can dial the caller-ID telephone number that it stored when the message was left by the calling party. Moreover, some VMSs, such as the voice mail system described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,805, can dial a telephone number left orally within the voice mail message itself. Such VMSs employ known speech recognition technology to convert spoken numbers into digits used for dialing. The related patent application entitled, “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INITIATING A COMMUNICATION IN A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM,” having Ser. No. 09/114,508 and assigned to the assignee of the present application, describes a system that extracts spoken caller-related information from a voice mail and sends it via SMS to the called party. Accordingly, the user is freed from having to write down or memorize the telephone number while listening to his or her voice mail, both of which are inconvenient options for a user on-the-move.
Although the prior art provides convenient callback for users, it is not a comprehensive solution. Users, especially those in multi-service communication systems, may need convenient callback for services other than telephone interconnect. Also, the use of voice recognition for callback may not be desired or preferred by some users. A more reliable alternative could thus meet the need expressed by these users. Therefore, an apparatus and method for message callback that provides convenient callback for an expanded set of services is needed.